Dorothy "Dot" A. Kelly Gay is an Irish-born American politician who served as mayor of

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

, and on the

Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...

Early life

Gay was born on April 26, 1943, in

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Her father was a politician, nurse and union activist. She graduated from Newtown National School, Convent of Mercy Secondary School, and Ballinasloe Technical School. In 1961 she moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to pursue a career in nursing. She graduated from the Mayday Hospital School of Nursing in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in 1964. In the early 1960s she met Bertram Gay in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The couple later married and in 1968 they immigrated to the United States because their child needed a surgery that was only available at

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

. They settled in Somerville and the couple soon found employment, with Gay getting hired at Somerville's Heritage Hospital. She continued to work as a nurse until 1999.

Political career

In 1986, Kelly Gay was appointed to the Somerville School Committee. She was elected to a full term ten months later. In 1992 Gay was elected to the Massachusetts Governor's Council in the 6th District. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

she ran for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. Gay lost in the Democratic primary to State Senator

Warren Tolman Warren Eugene Tolman (born October 23, 1959) is an American politician who has served as a member of both houses of the Massachusetts General Court. He was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1998, and was a candi ...

270,791 (54%) votes to 232,250 (46%). In 1999, Gay was elected Mayor of Somerville in a special election to succeed Michael Capuano, who was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. She defeated alderman John Buonomo 6878 votes to 6473. She ran for a full term later that year and was elected unopposed. In 2003, Gay finished third in the preliminary election behind Alderman Joseph Curtatone and businessman Tony Lafuente. Gay's loss was blamed on increasing gang violence, declining economic growth, and cuts in state aid that forced her to cut public services and fire 200 municipal workers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Dorothy Kelly 1943 births Living people 20th-century Irish politicians People from Ballinasloe Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Irish emigrants to the United States Massachusetts Democrats Mayors of Somerville, Massachusetts Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council School board members in Massachusetts Women mayors of places in Massachusetts 21st-century American women Politicians from County Galway